The gameplay in Corruption is truly amazing. The controls are fluid, fast, and, once mastered, feel very natural. Walking is controlled with the thumbstick on the nunchuk and aiming is done with the Wiimote. The aiming is very fluid and after a few adjustments to the settings and some practice they feel perfect. There are 3 modes of sensitivity and each player must experiment for themselves to find which is right for them. The aiming and ability to look around is greatly improved from other Wii shooters. Instead of having to move the targeting reticle all the way over to the side of the screen like in other Wii shooters, Samus will start to turn before the reticle reaches the end of the screen. This allows the player to turn relatively quickly while not being totally unable to shoot. However it is very hard to hit most of the enemies because of their speed, varying sizes, and unique actions. To aid the player, Retro Studios kept the lock-on feature from the previous games. A lock-on is aquired by aiming at an enemy and holding the “Z†button. This centers the player’s view on this enemy at all times unless that enemy does something that break the lock such as a powerful attack or a quick dodge. To add a level of challenge to the game, a “free look†feature was added to Corruption. The player has the choice to either have auto aim on a locked target or to be able to move the reticle around while locked on. Again this a player preference but all of the bosses will automatically force you to use the free look feature regardless of your settings.
The Wii’s motion control is fully integrated into the experience. As mentioned before, all aiming and looking around is done with the Wiimote. Even the motion sensor in the Nunchuk is used. Flicking the nunchuk forward while locked on to a grapple icon makes Samus release her grapple beam from her left wrist. The grapple can then be used to do things ranging from tearing armor or shields off of enemies to swinging around in Spider-man fashion. The motion control is also used to solve small puzzles, such as wielding computer panels back together, or to activate switches. Even activating switches doesn’t get old because the types of switches and methods of activating them are constantly changing as the player progresses. Also added is the ability to jump while in morphball without using bombs. All it takes is a flick of the wrist. It’s a subtle thing but it really speeds up the pace of morphball puzzles. This isan’t a Gamecube port ladies and gentlemen, this is a full fledged Wii title.
As any Metroid fan knows, upgrades to Samus’ arsenal are a key part of any Metroid game. While the previous Metroid Prime titles focused on having a massive arsenal of upgrades, Corruption focuses less on the number of upgrades, but on the depth of the key ones. The grapple beam is no longer used for the sole purpose of swinging over large gaps. It is now used for tearing shields and armor off enemies, solving puzzles, and even pulling certain enemies apart, in addition to swinging. The number of visors remains the same but the Thermal Visor has been replaced with the Command Visor, which allows Samus to give her ship commands. The Scan visor allows the player to examine the surroundings to find objects of interest and get info on enemies. The X-ray Visor remains and is used to find weak points on enemies and to solve encrypted commands. Visors are accessed by holding the “-“ button which brings up icons of the different visors. The elemental weaponary remains, but because the Wiimote has less buttons than its Gamecube predecessor, the ability to have multiple beams is gone. The elemental weapons are spread out to different parts of Samus’ arsenal. Ice is now an upgrade to the missiles and electricity is an upgrade for the grapple. Even the plasma beam and sonic beam are not the same even though they are still beam upgrades. In Corruption, when the player obtains a beam upgrade its effects are added to the existing beam. For example, the plasma beam adds a fiery attribute to the power beam granting it greater power and a burning effect while keeping the range of the power beam. Similarly the Nova Beam (very similar to the Sonic Beam from Echos) adds a penetrative attribute to the plasma beam that allows the beam to pass through certain substances and even through the armor of some enemies. When used in combination with the x-ray visor, the Nova Beam can be a truly deadly weapon allowing the player to dispatch many of the previously difficult enemies with a single shot to its hidden weak point inside its armor. The most dramatic addition to the arsenal is Samus’ ship. By selecting “command icons” using the Command Visor, the player can tell Samus’ ship to land in a landing zone, bomb the area, or tow heavy objects to another location. While the arsenal will seem smaller to players of the previous games, the depth and extreme usefulness of the upgrades cancels out most of the disappointment.
The P.E.D. suit allows Samus to charge her suit with Phazon to deliver deadly attacks. Phazon plays a more promonant role in Corruption than it ever has in the other games. In previous games, Phazon was a thing that was feared and avoided at all costs. However the tide is turned in Corruption and Phazon is now your a welcome substance. Early in the game Samus is corrupted with Phazon that allows her body to naturally produce Phazon for her own use. She is given the Phazon Enhancement Device, or P.E.D.: A new armor technology developed by Federation scientists that allows Samus to use Phazon as a deadly and powerful weapon. By holding the “+†button, the player enters Hypermode and is able to use phazon based weaponary, but at a cost. Each activation uses one energy tank as ammo. The more Phazon that is fired, the more health is lost. Once all the health from that energy tank is depleted or “+†is held again the player is snapped back into regular mode. The player also runs the risk of overloading if they use Hypermode too often or for to long. The Phazon weapons are very unique and each have their own uses. The beam is available from the start and will be used more than the others. There are also upgrades for other parts of your arsenal including morphball, which turns Samus into a rolling tesla coil, and missiles, which delivers a devastating single shot. Since it drains health the player will be hesitant to use Hypermode early in the game but later health upgrades and harder enemies will encourage the player to use hypermode more often. In fact, all of the main bosses and some of the mini bosses are only vulnerable to Phazon-based weapons. Hypermode greatly changes the way one plays Metroid as it can be the ultimate weapon but must be used wisely.
The Berserker Pirate, one of the many mini bosses in Corruption One thing that Metroid Prime 3 does that very few games these days have done is have amazing boss battles. In the era of shooters, realtime strategy, and RPG’s the art of majestic boss battles has been forgotten by many. Not so for Retro Studios. The old, intense boss battle formula that many of us grew up with lives on in Corruption. There are over 5 main bosses and multiple mini bosses. Each is a unique experience and each requires the player to take a different approach. Each boss makes use of almost all of the players current abilities and each has 2-5 different forms or attack stances. While the first form may be damaged with something as simple as the powerbeam, a later form may require that use of the grapple beam, morphball, and Hypermode. Because of this formula each boss fight is a unique and memorable battle. I will look back fondly on a few of the battles for years to come.
There are a few minor annoyances with Corruption. For one, near the end of the game there can be a lot of backtracking. The amount of backtracking depends on weither or not the player is trying to collect all the power ups or if he is just trying to beat the game. If the choice is the latter than the backtracking is very minimal and only for a few upgrades and a few key items in the last stage of the game.. The map is another grievance. On some of the levels the map is very congested and thus hard to use. One last problem are things I call “loading doors.†There are certain doors which, when shot, are the triggers for the game to load the next area. When loading the bigger areas, the door can take up to 15-20 seconds to open which can be both annoying and lethal if the player is low on health and needs to get out of the room fast.
